Chute for cleaning coal



(No Model.)

P. P. HENIGAN.

G HUTE POR CLEANING GOAL.

NO- 361,517l Patented Apr. 19, 1887.

ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS, mmlkhognpber. wnhingwn, D. C.

PATENT rrrc.

PETER F. HENIGAN, OF PITTSTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

CHUTE FOR CLEANING COAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent NO. 361,517, dated April 19, 1887.

(No model.)

To all whom i may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER F. HENIGAN, of Pittston, in the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chutes for Cleaning Coal, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to what are known as telegraphs in coal-mining regions, andV which are used to clean the coal after it has been broken by the breakers and assorted into different sizes by the screens77 These telegraphs consist of metal-lined chutes set at a suitable incline to pass the coal down them by gravity, and which have a portion of their length made'up of a frame of suitablyspaced longitudinal bars, over which the coal passes to a delivery-chute at the foot of the telegraph, while the refuse matter is discharged between said bars into a dirt-chute below.

The object of my invention is to provide for the automatic clearance of the slate as well as the culm through the spaces between the bars in the telegraph or cleaning-chute; and the invention consists in a novel construction of said bars, and in their arrangement within the chute, as well as in other details of construction,whereby the desired results are very perfectly secured.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a plan view of a coa-l telegraph or chute embodyingmy invention,

a portion being broken away to illustrate the construction and manner of attaching the bars between which the slate as well as the culm passes. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation,upon the line x min Fig. l,of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section thereof upon the lineyg/ of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of one of the separating-bars detached, and Fig. 5 is a transverse section of said bar upon the line z z in Fig. 4.

A indicates the metal-lined chute, and B B the bars in its bottom, intermediately of its length, for separating the slate aswell as the culm from the coal as the latter slides or passes down the chute. These bars, of which there may be any number arranged side by side,

are placed at a suitable distance apart from each other to suit the size of coal being passed down the chute, and to admit of slate as well as culm passing through or between them. ln the drawings said bars are shown as not cxtending fully across the chute, but as being banked at their sides by close strips b b, and the chute is represented as provided in its u pper portion with guides c c,which serve to conduct the coal, Src., onto the bars. This construction will be found useful in some cases, and will give free working space for the coal over the bars; but said guides may be dispensed with and the bars B B be increased in number,`so as to take up the whole width of the chute. i

Each of the bars B is a separate structure or casting, so that if one be broken itmay be replaced by another withont disturbing the rest. Said bars are cast hollow from beneath for lightness, and are of inverted-V shape in transverse section, presenting sharp upper edges and straight inclined sides, and are made perfectly true. This construction is necessary to insure the slate which is mixed with the coal, and which is found in fiat thin detachable pieces of all sizes, freeing itself from the coal and passing laterally down or over the inclined sides of the bars to and through the spaces between the bars, while the coal itself slides freely along and over the barslongitudinally for delivery at the foot of the chute. The effect, however, is very greatlyimproved by elevating the bars B at their lower ends, so that while the bars have a general inclination in common with the inclination of the chute, they have, as it were, an inclination of their own in a reverse direction to that of the chute, or,in other words,have their upper edges set to reduce the inclination or fall of the chute. This arrangement will induceincreased friction over the separating or bar portion of the chute, and more effectually secure the separation of the slate from the coal and its delivery,along with the culm and dirt, throughthe spaces between the bars. To thus provide for the arrangement of the bars, they are made at their upper ends with raised flanges d inline with their tops, and with stepped anges d' at their lower ends, extending outward below the level of the bottoms of the bodies of the bars. These IOO anges d d serve to secure the bars to their places by means of rivets e, passing through them and through plates ff, carrying theseveral bars at their ends, and seated in or con- Y per ends with raised danges and at theirlower ends with depressed stepped flanges, substanr 5 tiaily as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The inverted-Vshaped bar B, provided at its upper end with a raised iiange, d, and at its lower end with a depressed stepped ange, d', substantiailyas and for the purpose 2o herein set forth.

PETER F. HENIGAN.

Witnesses:

THoMAs J. OBRIEN, JOHN HAsToN, Jr. 

